‘You perpetuated injustice.’ Watch the most explosive moments in Mueller hearing

In a series of fiery exchanges, GOP lawmakers have blasted former Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election as everything from an “injustice” to “unAmerican.”

Mueller testified Wednesday before the House Judiciary Committee on his two-year investigation of President Donald Trump and his campaign on accusations of conspiracy and obstruction of justice.

Rep. Louis Gohmert, R-Texas, accused Mueller of “perpetuating injustice” as he argued that Trump had a right to feel he was under attack by a biased investigation.

“What he’s doing is not obstructing justice; he is pursuing justice and the fact you ran it out two years means you perpetuated injustice!” shouted Gohmert.

“I take your question,” Mueller replied as Gohmert’s time ran out.

But the former special counsel had a slightly more vigorous response to comments impugning his team’s final report from Rep. Tom McClintock, R-Calif.

“The fundamental problem is, as I said, we’ve got to take your word, your team, faithfully, accurately, impartially, and completely described all of the underlying evidence in the Mueller report, and we’re finding more and more instances where this just isn’t the case,” McClintock said.

“And it’s starting to look like, you know, having desperately tried and failed to make a legal case against the president, you made a political case instead,” he said. “You put it in a paper sack, lit it on fire, dropped it on our porch, rang the doorbell, and ran.”

“I don’t think you reviewed a report that is as thorough, as fair, as consistent as the report that we have in front of us,” Mueller replied.

Another Republican lawmaker called the investigation “unAmerican.”

“The drafting and the publication of some of the material in this report without prosecution flies in the face of American justice,” said Rep. Guy Reschenthaler, R-Penn.

“I find this entire process un-American,” he said.

Democrats on the panel have largely stuck to going over the report’s findings with Mueller, with several attempting to highlight efforts by Trump to obstruct the probe.

Others have tried to draw Mueller into speculation about whether Trump should be charged with obstruction or impeached, which he has largely resisted answering.

Mueller said at a May press conference in Washington that the report his office released following the probe into Russian 2016 election meddling was tantamount to his testimony. His lengthy report found no evidence the Trump campaign colluded with Russians to influence the election, but did list 10 possible instances of obstruction of justice by the president during the probe. Mueller also announced his office was closing up shop at the news conference.

But the Democrats who lead the Judiciary and Intelligence Committees in U.S. House of Representatives decided to subpoena Mueller to testify, announcing on June 25 that the former FBI head would appear before lawmakers in open session July 17. The hearings were later postponed to July 24.

“We look forward to hearing his testimony, as do all Americans,” Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., and Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., said in a June statement.

Nadler and Schiff acknowledged Mueller’s preference to let his “written work to speak for itself” in their June letter accompanying the subpoena, but the pair wrote that “the American public deserves to hear directly from you about your investigation and conclusions.”

Mueller’s May press conference sparked some Democrats to call for Trump’s impeachment, with some pointing to Mueller’s comment that “if we had confidence that the President clearly did not commit a crime, we would have said that. We did not, however, make a determination as to whether the President did commit a crime.”

Those impeachment calls included a handful of Democratic presidential candidates.

“I believe a fair inference from what he heard from Bob Mueller is there would have been indictments returned against this president,” if not for the Justice Department guidance saying a president can’t be charged, Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., told reporters during a stop in South Carolina, McClatchy reported. On Twitter, Harris called Mueller’s news conference statements “an impeachment referral.”

This story was originally published July 24, 2019 at 12:23 PM with the headline "‘You perpetuated injustice.’ Watch the most explosive moments in Mueller hearing."